Coming September 30, 2025!
Carroll Gardens Story
It’s 1998 in Carroll Gardens, Brooklyn, where the close-knit Italian-American community clings to its traditions. In the week leading up to Halloween, a shocking discovery shatters the holiday mood: a prickly and unpopular neighbor is found dead on her balcony, meticulously costumed and posed as a witch.
Some fingers point to Helper, a beloved local handyman known for his gentle nature and neurodivergent quirks. When the case is assigned to a rookie detective—who also happens to be Helper’s nephew—long-held family secrets and buried traumas begin to surface.
What are the psychological stakes when family and murder mix? Told from three perspectives, Carroll Gardens Story explores the tension between loyalty and the wounds of childhood. Like a character itself, the neighborhood is portrayed with affection and wit as we follow the mystery toward its unconventional resolution—and, quite possibly, to healing.
Praise for Carroll Gardens Story
“Not unlike Anne Tyler, Frances introduces the reader to a small neighborhood… Well-developed characters, a detailed setting, and a compelling story keep the reader engaged until the very end. These flawed, but generous humans stay in your mind long after you finish the book.”
— Elizabeth Winthrop Alsop, author of The Daughter of Spies
“The beating heart of Carroll Gardens Story is its wonderful depiction of the Brooklyn neighbourhood, which Frances brings to vivid life through her authentic, quirky and complex characters… a powerful journey about the importance of acknowledging and speaking the truth before real healing can begin. May this be only the first of many more Sally Frances books to come!”
— Ann Lambert, author of the Russell and Leduc Murder Mystery Series
— Carol Thompson for Readers’ Favorite
Carroll Gardens on Halloweens Past
